Best of Friends Friends of the Durham Library Newsletter
Fall 2012
D
urham County Library’s community read event, Durham Reads Together 2012, kicked off on September 9 with a packed house. More than 160 people filled the Main Library auditorium to hear featured author, Margaret Maron, discuss her Judge Deborah Knott mystery series and to have her sign copies of her books.
This Durham Reads Together event is different from the one community/one book programs the library has hosted in the past. Instead of choosing one book for everyone to read, DRT 2012 encouraged the entire community to participate by reading any or every title in Maron’s Judge Knott series, which is set in counties throughout North Carolina. At the kickoff, Maron delighted the audience as she shared which of the secondary characters in the Judge Knott series are her favorites (Deborah’s brother Haywood and sister-in-law April); she told of visiting the coast to
pier and having her friend tell a curious passerby that they were “looking for a place to put the body”; and she had everyone in stitches as she talked about her experiences trying to create pottery by hand in preparation for writing Uncommon Clay. Maron’s books were a perfect choice for Durham Reads Together. They explore the culture, history and challenges of the state, while at the same time spinning a popular tale of a young lawyer, the daughter of a former notorious bootlegger, who becomes a judge in a North Carolina county. Durham Reads Together, presented by Durham Library Foundation, continues throughout the month of September with programs that explore local food, race concerns, the history of bootlegging and land use issues in North Carolina, all through the lens of Maron’s novels. The Durham Reads Together finale, a roast and toast of Maron by her writing group, will be held on Sunday, October 7 at 2:30 p.m. at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club. Those who missed the kickoff will have another opportunity to have books signed, and to spend time with this engaging author. Visit durhamcountylibrary.org/drt to get more information about Durham Reads Together, or to sign up for e-newsletters created by NoveList exclusively for DRT 2012 participants, or to share your thoughts about any of the 17 books in the Judge Deborah Knott series with fans throughout the county. Durham Reads Together 2012 is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Durham Library and NoveList.